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I wonder, do those who choose female avoid all that bursting into tears at inconvenient moments as their bodies go through Estrogen Hell? Although given the signs of, um, development we see in the older girls, perhaps they've already been through that at puberty...

Which reminds me of something I've been wondering for a long time: can a pre-choice (someone think of a better term, please) girl become pregnant?

The Church faction works against the Military faction in Simulacurm...

They send the other Choirs to the springs, where the Military faction was not happy about. (Some sidenotice when they where at the Meeting)
The Highpristers (Temple One) forced the "Peace". They was surprised for the sideeffects that the Peace contract brings with it,
so the Military faction has his revenge now (Disband the last and best Choir. Girls going to spring etc. etc..) I hope you relaized it, too.

So, Simoun Politics to compere it with some RL old history... Is impossible...
so, RL Biologie to compere with Simoun biologie is the same

First Lodreamon and Mamiina, now this - At the current rate that they're offing the official pairings of the series they're going to kill Nevi & Aeru too by the end of Episode 26. Or at least 10 seconds after the final credits

Quote:

Originally Posted by oneplusme

Spoiler for episode 26 speculation:

Interesting...

Wild-ass theory time: Could this, perhaps, mean Limone is Aaeru's grandfather? It would give us a pleasingly complete circularity, and explain his knowledge of the song, the Emerald Ri Maajon and her Plumbish name.

Would this mean we'd get to see a Limonef/Amuria pairing?

You know, that is such an almost stupidly convinient way to wrap all those things up in one big smash (why didn't anyone think of this before? ) that it's just too good to pass totally over, so I'd be surprised if it didn't play out like that or at least a similar manner.

Spoiler for moar explict detail stuff:

Dunno about the genders there, though. Little Rimone looked pretty hot from the preview .
The only thing that rubs me against your theory is the timeline, for I always took it that Rimodomi jumped way way back in time, as in several hundreds of years to set the foundation for the future Theocracy, so that doesn't really mix too well with that. Well, I guess they can out themselves from it if they'd somehow get to perform another Emerald or something, but somehow I don't really see that happening. Especially if the one Rimone's supposed to meat up is an already-Manlified Amuria .

Quote:

Originally Posted by fignae

Great line from Key Board, too (how could I have missed it? skipping spoilers is indeed a bad idea). That's precisely what I think the "eien no miko" means to them.

/me curses the over-bloated spoilertag-usage of this thread

No one reads your posts if you spoilerify them

Spoiler for Essentially the same thing, but a bit more explict:

Quote:

Originally Posted by m000m000, Re: The Girl's enthusiasm over Nevi&Aeru's oncoming journey

As said earlier, I think it's all a throw back to the Ep1 "Become eternal maidens serving at the side of Tempus Spatium" when completing the Emerald.
And, they're their close friends and companions, so it is only natural they'll feel empathy towards their cause and the path they've chosen.

But I think it is also at the same time is a much broader thing than just that;It's about the legacy of the girls (hah, there you got the next episode title ).

Their country's changing. They're changing. They've gone through a lot, but yet all that was their life up to now will change. Be new, and different. They will no longer be able to do what they once did, and they're bound for separate paths in life.

But in all this tumult of change, Nevi and Aeru have opted not to do so. They'll be Priestesses forever (or so we're led to precieve). They're no longer going to be in the society that is not the same as they. They're travelling somewhere, far and away, unaffected by all the change, and with them, in spirit and figure, they'll carry all that which is and defines the Chor Tempest with them.

Thus, where ever they go, the Legacy of Chor Tempest lives on.

And thus, we have us an ending for the series!

*sniff* so poetic ;_;

That being said, I think people here mark the subject of their spoilers pretty well, so you shouldn't be too afraid when treading around.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FatPianoBoy

Which reminds me of something I've been wondering for a long time: can a pre-choice (someone think of a better term, please) girl become pregnant?

The way I see it is that they're just that - girls before going to the spring, and women afterwards, if they chose to be female.
Evidently it's not just a 'rite of passage' even for those who decide to remain female (See: The Onashia case), so I've always taken it that while they technically may be female before their visit to the spring too, they wouldn't actually be fertile or capable of reproduction until after it.

The only thing that rubs me against your theory is the timeline, for I always took it that Rimodomi jumped way way back in time, as in several hundreds of years to set the foundation for the future Theocracy, so that doesn't really mix too well with that.

Spoiler for speculation for episode 26:

We've seen that the Emerald Ri Maajon can do screwy things with space (knitting two spaces together, for example) if overdone. Could time have been spliced into a circle, such that Dominura and Limone went forward in time, but still wound up in Simulacrum's past?

66. Onashia drew a parallel between the heart of an eien no shoujo and a Simoun gem, and between girl and aircraft. Is that just a metaphor, or is there some reality behind it?
67. Dominura and Limone develop a telepathic bond in episode 16, Aaeru shows signs of one in 14, and Aaeru and Neviril have one in episode 25. Is this actual telepathy? Is it mediated by the Simoun Gem, or is it an inherent property of being an eien no shoujo?
68. Are the answers to those two questions connected?

.../me curses the over-bloated spoilertag-usage of this thread. No one reads your posts if you spoilerify them....

We have been very scrupulous in using spoiler tags to cover potential spoiler material. But I have wondered why we aren't counting wowo's softsubs -- and especially her hard subs -- as subs that free us not to use spoilers. Is there anyone reading this thread who has not seen eps 20-25 subbed?

__________________

Kimura Juri木村珠莉 Joined Tokyo Voice Actors' Co-op in 2011, did voice-overs for corporate presentations. Anime bit parts 2013-14. Stars in Shirobako as Miyamori, will star in Mikagura Gakuen Kumikyoku (spring). Enjoys music, looking at Buddha images, reading. Used to work at a bookstore. Says she is a maudlin drunk. Age unknown.Hashihime blog | Twitter@nakanokimi |

But I have wondered why we aren't counting wowo's softsubs -- and especially her hard subs -- as subs that free us not to use spoilers. Is there anyone reading this thread who has not seen eps 20-25 subbed?

Well, since links to raws are banned at Animesuki, this overusage of spoiler tags in theory enables people who follow only the hard-subbed releases to follow this thread. Of course, such people seem to be in short supply and they will get spoiled anyway since not every post episode 16 info is hidden inside spoiler tags.

Spoiler for specualtion about Aaeru's grandpa:

I hope neither of Rimone and Dominura turns out to be Aaeru's grandfather. It would be too much of a time paradox. If it's me in such a situation I don't think I would be able to resist the temptation to try and change the girl's name, tell her everything, generally try to do something to see if the future and maybe even the present will change as a result of my actions. Of course, we can speculate that her grandfather is supposed to die before he realises that his granddaughter would be the Aaeru he has known as a Sibylla but that would be really stretching the suspension of disbelief of the viewers. On the other hand, Amuria is also often being compared to Aaeru, she was interested in the Emerald Ri Maajon, she does not know Aaeru and we haven't seen her dead body. If someone that we know has to be that elusive grandfather, I hope it's her.

__________________

'The world we live in is always in darkness.'
'Yes, and that is why we seek light.'

Spoiler for a suggestion about Simoun's main theme (1), a long and boring post about Aaeru and Neviril's choice:

The catch phrase appearing in the official website is from ep 1,

"Let's go where we can be free,"

Neviril's line to Amuria during a battle.
That was ridiculously out of the context, since they were fighting with enemies and had no time to talk about freedom thing.
Did they really want to escape the battle by going to Tempus Spatium's side or else?

After ep 1, their conversation has been forgotten, but since the idea of going to the different world has got substantial, it seems to have more significance.

Technically, Aaeru and Neviril want to evade gender choice to go to a different world.
The other members of the Chor Tempest see such an attempt in their own views, but one thing noticeable is that they might not expect a practical change of the nation they live in.
Rather their longing seems to be something transcendent and conceptual.

"Simoun is shoujo(girl)." (Onashia in ep 24)

As a result of the defeat, Kuukoku had to be deprived of the access to all the Simouns and the girls had to go to the Spring for the rite to become adults.

Simoun, the craft of the gods, is both a religious symbol of the theocratic society and the cause of the war.
And the girls have had various connections with Simoun and the Simoun war, as "shoujo."
The fact that the access to Simoun was blocked would be associated with another fact that the girls are no longer allowed to be shoujo and should be prepared to get into the ordinary world.
And the way to get into the world is to "become a man or a woman as others in the sociery have done."

Not only growth but also numerous facets of socialization may be implicated in his words.
We call the process of getting accustomed to the fixed and imposed way of life "socialization."
And after the process, one more member of the society is born, who has few options at hand and is surrounded by the ordained social expectations like gender role, heterosexuality, a set of morality, contribution to the society as a family member and a career person.

The Eternity admired by the Chor Tempest would be about the pristine status free from the rein of society.
Also, the freedom Neviril unwittingly mentioned would be the restoration of individuality that might have been oppressed in the standardized life.
It may be that Aaeru and Neviril opted to confront such a social demand by choosing not to choose gender.
By journey on Simoun for a different possibility, they would accomplish the true Aaeru and Neviril, not the Aaeru and Neviril who lived in a specific era of Kuukoku.

I didn't know before that Ishikawa Chiaki 石川智晶, who wrote and sang the great OP "Utsukushikereba Sore de Ii," is a long-time musical partner of Kajiura Yuki, who did the music for .hack//SIGN, Noir, Madlax, Portrait de Petit Cossette, My-HiME, My-Otome, etc., etc. They have been in bands together since high school, and since 1993 as "See-Saw." Ishikawa (37) is the lead vocalist and sang on EDs for GS and GSD, and OP/ED for .hack//SIGN and //Liminality. The Simoun OP is the first anime song she has written herself. (jp.wikipedia)

Ishikawa, See-Saw, Ishikawa (click to enlarge):

__________________

Kimura Juri木村珠莉 Joined Tokyo Voice Actors' Co-op in 2011, did voice-overs for corporate presentations. Anime bit parts 2013-14. Stars in Shirobako as Miyamori, will star in Mikagura Gakuen Kumikyoku (spring). Enjoys music, looking at Buddha images, reading. Used to work at a bookstore. Says she is a maudlin drunk. Age unknown.Hashihime blog | Twitter@nakanokimi |

a suggestion about Simoun's main theme (1), a long and boring post about Aaeru and Neviril's choice

Wow. What a inspired, insightful post. It brought together ideas that have been floating around individually into something that makes sense. I've always been wondering what are the larger themes of Simoun as a work of speculative fiction, and this builds some very interesting bridges. Thank you. Simon has mentioned that he has thoughts on the role of duty in Simoun; I think everyone should write an essay of their own after the series ends.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

The Simoun OP is the first anime song she has written herself.

And doesn't it have traces of Kajiura Yuki's influence? *gets sued*

Ishikawa Chiaki has at least one solo album of her own, outside of her work with See-Saw. (By the way, there's a very old video of them on Youtube.) Their songwriting styles are very different. And recently, Kajiura Yuki seems to be collaborating with Nanri Yuuka more; haven't heard anything from See-Saw in a long time.

Wikipedia now has a list of Simoun media (episodes, merchandise, etc). Anyone feel like filling in the romanisations and translations for the OST 1 and OST 2 track listings? Go on, you know you want to...

While collating game info for the list I noticed that Marvellous mention Sunday's Tokyo Game Show event. It was called Makuhari Ri Mājon (after the Markuhari Messe convention centre where TGS was held), and featured Takahashi Rieko, Koshimizu Ami and Yukana giving a "secret talk" and running a Simoun quiz (with "rare goods" as prizes, no less). Here's hoping a proper event report turns up...

/agrees about warainagara's post (but /has to be up for work in three hours, so can't give it the thought it deserves right now)

Last edited by Simon; 2006-09-24 at 10:44.
Reason: Left out Yukana. Shame on me!

The quote did seem a bit excessive in its context, but made sense to me even at the time: they were surrounded by the enemy, the world was complicated and awful. It just didn't feel right to her. She had to get stronger and break free.

The Sibyllae and the Simoun are shoujo, children, in a state of grace. And at the Spring they grow up and fall from from grace into the world of limits where, as Aaeru's grandpa said, you make decisions and become progressively more and more limited. Now Erif's scream makes even more sense: she was screaming as she fell, just as Paraietta said in ep25.

I'm beginning to feel what the Sibyllae feel: a determination that NeviAer will become free on my behalf, and never fall from grace, but remain at the right hand of TempusPatium, free to be whatever and wherever they want. The transcendant Neviril and Aaeru.

I'm not sure she is, but the idea of Amuria being Aaeru's grandpa is fairly thrilling. I wonder if we or NeviAer will ever know that she is? A reunion would be a wonderful and disturbing moment, as Neviril realizes who this old man is, as we get another jolt to our sense of gender, as Aaeru realizes that Amuria is no threat, and as Aaeru, Neviril and Amuria realize that in a sense, Aaeru is Amuria reuniting with Neviril, after a lifetime (two lifetimes) of struggle to get back to her.

And further to what fignae wrote, Ishikawa Chiaki has two solo albums: Magnolia (マグノリア, Magunoria,1999) and Inner Garden (2003); and two solo singles: Like an angel / 雨の日に恋をした (Ame no Hi ni Koi o Shita, "Making Love on a Rainy Day", 2004) and Utsukushikereba sore de Ii.

Ishikawa's website has a section for See-saw, which also has its own website. Its last album was in 2003 and last single in 2005 (GundamIV's ED, which debuted at #4 on the charts). There are samples of two PVs on the See-Saw site. On their 2003 album, Ishikawa did the words to five songs, and Kajiura the words to eight and the music for all. Ishikawa did both words and music for Utsukushikereba.

I think Kajiura and Ishikawa keep See-Saw alive just in case it becomes useful again, but are really (especially Kajiura) growing their own careers. Kajiura now performs as Fiction Junction. Hopefully this great song ignites Ishikawa's solo career. No surprise that she's influenced by her old partner. Kajiura was clearly the brains of the operation, and Ishikawa the Voice.

Oh, and thanks to Simon for his work on the very useful Wikipedia page.

__________________

Kimura Juri木村珠莉 Joined Tokyo Voice Actors' Co-op in 2011, did voice-overs for corporate presentations. Anime bit parts 2013-14. Stars in Shirobako as Miyamori, will star in Mikagura Gakuen Kumikyoku (spring). Enjoys music, looking at Buddha images, reading. Used to work at a bookstore. Says she is a maudlin drunk. Age unknown.Hashihime blog | Twitter@nakanokimi |

I think Kajiura and Ishikawa keep See-Saw alive just in case it becomes useful again, but are really (especially Kajiura) growing their own careers. Kajiura now performs as Fiction Junction. Hopefully this great song ignites Ishikawa's solo career. No surprise that she's influenced by her old partner. Kajiura was clearly the brains of the operation, and Ishikawa the Voice.

Well, now Nanri is the Voice and also the Beautiful Face, no wonder See-Saw is not active these days.

Spoiler for a bit of eternal shoujo rambling:

Quote:

I'm beginning to feel what the Sibyllae feel: a determination that NeviAer will become free on my behalf, and never fall from grace, but remain at the right hand of TempusPatium, free to be whatever and wherever they want. The transcendant Neviril and Aaeru.

I don't know, it seems too much to me that everyone is so certain that those two will be "eternal maidens". They will probably be remembered as such by their friends but that can easily be mostly wishful thinking. Or it just means they didn't follow the rules of their society...at least in this time period. Anyway, what I am saying is that I am not sure these two will not conform to the rules of whatever society they are headed to, despite how their firends might remember them.

__________________

'The world we live in is always in darkness.'
'Yes, and that is why we seek light.'

If Tamiya are doing a Messis set (as shown), then presumably we'll get sets for all the other characters too. Great to see the Simoun tech from the OP in there. (But I am thinking it's going to be a challenge to paint 1/35 scale mice.)

Hmm, and a 1/144 scale Shimire... How big is a Simoun? I'm trying to visualise that great front-on shot in ep1 with Amuria standing on her and Neviril's Simoun, which leads me to think you could fit a "parked" one inside a 4-5 metre cube - but then I have lousy spatial sense (I also suspect - although I've yet to test my theory - that if you watch the show closely enough you'll find scale inconsistencies between scenes).

So 1/144 seems a small scale to choose - unless, of course, a giant 1/144 Arcus Prima was also in the works...

EDIT: To resolve the question of size, I vote that someone with a practical bent construct a life-size replica Simoun in their back yard (suitably blogged, of course). Bonus points if it flies and/or shows up on Google Earth.

Well, it turns out that the sound director for Simoun was a seiyuu. This appears to be very unusual. I just checked several good anime, and none of them had a former seiyuu as sound director. Simoun's sound director is the voice actor who plays The Irresponsible Captain Tylor, and Miroku in Inuyasha.

If the job of the sound director really is to get the best performances out of the seiyuus -- and it seems to be -- then it certainly makes sense for a seiyuu to do it.

Simoun's sound director is Koujitani Tsuji, 44. His most recent roles were in Eureka7 as "Dewey" and Blood+ as "Solomon." But he was sound director of Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito and Fate Stay/Night. I guess he deserves some credit for the great voice-acting.

Spoiler for photo of Simoun sound director Koujita Tsuji.:

EDIT: Nishida Asako's blog has a new piece about how long it took to develop Simoun, how much she loves it and how she herself looked over just about everything, completely involved in supervising the animation. And it shows her earliest version of Aaeru, "Beautiful Aaeru":

Spoiler for Nishida Asako's earliest version of Aaeru:

__________________

Kimura Juri木村珠莉 Joined Tokyo Voice Actors' Co-op in 2011, did voice-overs for corporate presentations. Anime bit parts 2013-14. Stars in Shirobako as Miyamori, will star in Mikagura Gakuen Kumikyoku (spring). Enjoys music, looking at Buddha images, reading. Used to work at a bookstore. Says she is a maudlin drunk. Age unknown.Hashihime blog | Twitter@nakanokimi |

Don't get your hopes up too high - Those are chops. If the image quality and sources (airbrushed screencaps) isn't enough to tell, then the names "Tamita" and "Banzai" should be obvious clues enough .

Well of course I noticed that, I was just playing along in the spirit of deadpan humour. Yeah, that's it, honest: it's not like I was in a state of sleep-deprived stupidity and posting in a rush while I ate lunch at my desk, oh no...

Move along and wait for ep26 folks, there's nothing to see here

(But I still say someone should build a replica Simoun in their back yard. That would just be cool.)

Does anyone know how the ages of the main staff compare to industry norms? We seem to have a number of key people in their mid-40s and up (e.g. Nishimura Junji is 50). Does Simoun's depth perhaps reflect the maturity of the people behind it, or are these ages typical for senior production figures?

Quote:

And it shows her earliest version of Aaeru, "Beautiful Aaeru"

Seeing how I don't have any dignity left after my last post, I guess there's nothing to stop me running around shrieking kawaiiii!! like a teenager on a sugar high...